Harmony Cemetery is a tiny rural cemetery southeast of El Dorado, Kansas with just seventeen marked graves.
Harmony Cemetery was originally part of Little Walnut Township, until the township split in 1877 and Glencoe Township was established.
Glencoe Township has a smaller population today than it did in 1883.
Harmony Cemetery doesn’t appear to have supported a church, school, or official settlement, though later maps show both a church and a school house nearby.
There was a school called Harmony in nearby Pleasant Township, but it doesn’t seem to be related.
The last burial at Harmony Cemetery was in 1952.
Burials at Harmony Cemetery
The MacRitchie Family
The first known burial at Harmony Cemetery was Thomas Elder MacRitchie. Thomas was born in Scotland and came to the United States in 1872. His brothers John and William had come here the year before, and presumably had success that made Thomas eager to follow.
His brothers became active in the local township government (John MacRitchie was Glencoe Township’s first clerk) and ran successful farms in Butler county, but Thomas died here when he was just 25 years old.
He accidentally shot himself in the leg with a shotgun, and the wound developed an infection that killed him. His obituary states he was buried in Quito. Quito Cemetery is about three miles west of Harmony Cemetery.
Thomas’ name is also inscribed on his father’s gravestone in Scotland and it says he “died in Kansas June 1875, aged 25 years.”
The second burial at Harmony Cemetery was little Alice MacRitchie, one of Thomas’ nieces. She was the daughter of Emma Augusta and William MacRitchie.
William and Emma claimed land in adjacent Section 10 and likely could see their daughter’s grave from their home. A geocache that hides in a nearby tree line bears her name and contains Alice in Wonderland themed trinkets.
Alice is buried in a plot with her uncle that used to be shaded by large trees, both of which were cut down sometime in the last 20 years. The trees that once decorated this cemetery probably dropped branches that damaged many stones, including both of the MacRitchie stones.
Amanda Story (1867-1880)
Mandy Story was the daughter of Sabra Petro and Enoch Story. She was presumably born in Indiana, where her parents were married in 1865. She appears on a census record with them in Indiana in 1870.
The Story’s made their way to Kansas at some point and experienced the all-too-common pioneer tragedy of the loss of a child. They buried their second born daughter here, presumably near their home. She was just 12 years old.
James Pillow Huntley (1844-1881)
James Huntley was just 37 years old when he died. His gravestone indicates he was born in Tewkesbury, England, and we can also tell from his gravestone that he was a Mason. His brother Jacob owned 320 acres in Glencoe Township near the cemetery.
I couldn’t confirm much about James, but do know that he was considered an “old settler” and was here long enough to be a “respected citizen” of Glencoe Township.
At some point, someone tried to keep his gravestone upright using a couple of sticks that were screwed together. It worked our for a little while.
The crude attempt at a repair was doomed to fail. The gravestone is now flat on the ground, separated from its base and exposing bonding material from a presumed prior repair.
James is in a large plot alone, suggesting that other members of the Huntley family intended to be buried here too, or maybe there are others buried here in unmarked graves.
Arazona Wisecarver (1882)
Little Arazona was just five months old when she died on September 20, 1882. She was the daughter of William Wisecarver and Nancy Taylor.
Less than a month after Arazona died, it was reported that a Mrs. Wisecarver (perhaps Arazona’s mother) was admitted to the insane asylum.
The couple had four children before Arazona, and it would be six years after Arazona’s death before Nancy gave birth to her next. Nancy died in 1890 leaving five children behind. William never remarried.
The “old Wisecarver farm” was located seven miles east and two miles north of Leon, which would put at least one Wisecarver somewhere near the location of Harmony Cemetery. According to an 1883 map, it was M. Wisecarver owned land in Section 4 that Harmony Cemetery straddled. This could have been William’s brother, Marion.
Catherine Bristow (1852-1887)
Catherine was just 34 when she died on a Saturday in January. Nothing was printed indicating how she died, but she was buried the following Tuesday in Harmony Cemetery. Her short obituary said she was “the wife of F. Bristow.”
I couldn’t find much about Catherine or her elusive husband F., but there was an H. Bristow who owned 320 acres in Glencoe county near the cemetery in 1883, which could be why Harmony Cemetery was chosen as the burial place for Catherine. Her gravestone also looks a bit too modern for 1887, so it was likely added later.
Ben J. Hoover (1808-1888)
Ben Hoover has the earliest birth date in the cemetery, and at age 80 he’s tied with John Springer as the oldest person buried here. He was born in Maryland, and lived in Ohio and Indiana before settling in Butler County with his family sometime between 1870 and 1880.
His son John Hoover “drove his covered wagon into grass as high as the wagon itself and drove the stake on his claim” in Glencoe Township, and Ben may have followed him here.
If we trust Ben’s obituary over his gravestone, he is the oldest person buried here at 86 years old, but 80 years is carved here in stone.
Ben’s son Carlythe and his grandson John are buried at nearby Quito Cemetery.
Nancy Jane Wikoff Elliott (1846-1889)
Nancy Wikoff married Alexander Elliott on Christmas day in 1871 in Scioto, Ohio. Aside from how many children she had (eight) and how many she survived (five), I couldn’t find out much more about her.
Nancy’s grave is flagged with a U.S. Veteran’s marker, which could be for her husband Alexander, although I didn’t find a record of any military service for him. According to his obituary, he was buried at Harmony Cemetery, but he doesn’t have a gravestone here and I couldn’t find any other source confirming that he’s here.
The Springers
Hanna James married John Springer in 1843 in Ohio, where she was born. The couple lived there for nearly forty years before coming in Kansas in 1880. They owned 160 acres in Glencoe Township near the cemetery, so Harmony Cemetery was probably the most convenient and obvious burial choice when Hannah died unexpectedly in 1896. John, or Grandpa Springer, died the following year.
The Real Family
At least seven members of the Real family are buried here. The first Real buried here was John Real who died in 1890 when he was just 52. John owned 160 acres just south of the cemetery.
John’s mother-in-law died two days after he did. Polly Havens may be buried here, but I didn’t find anything printed about where she was buried, or if she was even living here when she died. We know she died February 5, 1890 and was buried the following day, but if it was here, her grave isn’t marked.
John’s wife Sophia Havens was born in Ohio and she married him when she was 20. Over the course of her marriage to John, she gave birth to six children, five of whom outlived her.
After John died, Sophia took over part of the land she shared with John and farmed it herself, perhaps with some help from her children. Her occupation on the 1900 census is Farmer, and on the 1910 census it’s Farm Manager.
Cora Belle was the the daughter of John and Sophia Real and the mother to seven children. According to her obituary, she was “a great sufferer” for many years before she died at age 38 and was buried near her father.
Harel Real and his brother Orval were the children of Phoebe Hadley and Justin Real and grandchildren of John and Sophia. The brothers were ten months and six days apart, and they died one day apart in 1890. Orval died the day he was born, and Harel died the day before. I wasn’t able to decipher the lengthy epitaph on the double gravestone, and the boys didn’t have a Find a Grave entry until recently, but they were documented in Corrine Afton’s Cemeteries of Butler County.
Elmer Real was also one of John and Sophia’s children. He married Jennie Smith in 1887, and took over 80 acres of his father’s land when he died, farming next to his mother for nearly thirty years. The couple had eight children. Elmer was only 58 when he died, but his wife Jennie Smith lived much longer. She died of a heart attack at age 83 at her home in Kiowa. She was the last person to be buried here, returned by her children to be near her husband.
Additional Resources
Glencoe Township, Butler County, Kansas
Kansas State Board of Agriculture First Biennial Report, Butler County, 1878
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